AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Author John Graves, whose authentic portrayals of rural Texas made him one of the state's most celebrated and beloved writers, has died. He was 92.

Graves' death was announced Wednesday by W.K. "Kip" Stratton, president of the Texas Institute of Letters. Stratton wrote in an email to institute members that Graves died at his home near Glen Rose.

Graves was a towering literary figure best known for his 1960 book "Goodbye to a River." The memoir about a canoe trip down the Brazos River has endured as one of the most widely read and acclaimed books about Texas and was nominated for a National Book Award.

Graves also wrote "Hard Scrabble" in 1974 and "From a Limestone Ledge" in 1980. The books became known as his "Brazos Trilogy."